Wherever you fall on the global warming divide you will agree coal pollution is unhealthy. It is hard to imagine anyone insisting it’s a great idea to open 100 more coal-powered plants across the country, yet it is precisely what energy companies are trying to do.
Houston-based energy company Dynegy has as many as six coal-powered plants in the works, according to The Houston Chronicle. The nicest thing Dynegy tried to do was buy Enron – not because it cared for its workers or investors, but because of the profit it would have earned.
If you have walked around the corner of the Social Work Building this past week, you must have been repulsed by the tar-like smell permeating the air – and destroying our lungs. Although UH administration should have considered student health before allowing construction workers to do their business during weekdays, the point of this column goes beyond that. What you smelled was nothing compared to how areas around coal plants stink.
It’s bad enough the entire east side of Houston is blanketed by extremely carcinogenic air pollutants from a plethora of factories; now we’ll have another coal plant adding to the Texas air flavor. The company’s shocking short-term profiteering comes at the cost of releasing extremely harmful substances into our air.
Coal contains trace quantities of radioactive materials that do not burn but are released into the air, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Imagine strolling down Buffalo Bayou as you unknowingly inhale these substances. Furthermore, Citizen.org, a consumer-rights based group, reports that coal plants are the highest source of mercury in the environment, and "mercury pollution is contaminating fish in Texas lakes, reservoirs and rivers, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico. Eating mercury contaminated fish has been found to cause neurological and developmental delays from mothers who ate trace amounts, posing special risks for children and women of child-bearing age."
But all is not lost; Dynegy has not yet constructed those plants and efforts are already under way to stop them. The Sierra Club is at the forefront, fighting not just for the environment, but for the health of all Texans and Americans. Emily Stone is a part of that group, leading the charge to save our lungs here at UH. You can see her in the University Center Satellite recruiting students for upcoming rallies against the dirty energy company.
The idea is to show local politicians that their constituents don’t want such companies increasing our chances of becoming victims of cancer. There will be a rally on May 14 in front of Dynegy headquarters, led by Stone and many other environment and health-minded people. UH students seem to be at the forefront so far, although efforts are also under way to agitate the prissy Rice students.
Even big corporate banks are falling in on the consumers’ side on this issue. According to the Feb. 4 issue of Forbes, Citigroup Inc., JP Morgan Chase and Co. and Morgan Stanley have jointly developed new environmental standards by which they evaluate risks associated with investments in coal powered plants. This will make it more difficult for new U.S coal-fired plants to secure financing.
This adds to the growing support against coal-powered plants. The momentum belongs to the citizens and consumers on this one. It isn’t often a unifying issue like this comes along that reaches across party and ideological lines, since it negatively affects us all. Use this opportunity to help people like Stone stop big corporations from literally harming our future. Join her at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the UC Caribbean room, in the quest to rid ourselves of this chemical menace.
